Merck's Murky Dealings: HPV Vaccine Lobby Backfiresby Terry J. Allen, Special to CorpWatchMarch 7th, 2007Merck's lobbying campaign for mandatory vaccination of school girls provided funding for a prominent women's non-profit. The ensuing uproar has created a backlash against the pharmaceutical giant.

Barrick Gold Mine Transforms Pacific Islandby David Martinez, Special to CorpWatchFebruary 21st, 2007Papua New Guinea, one of the world's largest islands, has fortunes in gold under its lush green mountains and a diversity of indigenous culture. The arrival of a Canadian mining company has brought violent clashes and transformed the indigenous lands forever.

This Alien Life: Privatized Prisons for Immigrantsby Deepa Fernandes, Special to CorpWatchFebruary 5th, 2007In the wake of the September 11th attacks, the U.S. government invoked national security to sweep up and jail an unprecedented number of immigrants. Companies like Corrections Corporation of America and Wackenhut, have reaped the benefits.

High-Tech Healthcare in Iraq, Minus the Healthcareby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchJanuary 8th, 2007Almost four years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s healthcare system is still a shambles. While most hospitals lack basic supplies, dozens of incomplete clinics and warehoused high-technology equipment remain as a testament to the failed U.S. experiment to reconstruct of Iraq. First in a series of CorpWatch articles.

Afghanistan, Inc.: A CorpWatch Investigative ReportOctober 6th, 2006This weekend marks the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan. Fariba Nawa, an Afghan-American who returned to her native country to examine the progress of reconstruction, uncovers some examples of where the money has (and hasn’t) gone, how the system of international aid works (and doesn’t), and what it is really like in the villages and cities where outsiders are rebuilding the war-torn countryside.
Click here to download the complete report.
An HTML text version of the report is also available.
Listen, watch or read an interview with Fariba Nawa on Democracy Now! about reconstruction, security, and life in Afghanistan five years after the invasion.

An Insider in Brussels: Lobbyists Reshape the European Unionby Elke Cronenberg, Special to CorpWatchSeptember 18th, 2006In order to influence the new laws that encompass the 25 countries of the European Union, now the world's largest single economy, some 15,000 lobbyists have flocked to Brussels, its political heart. The public relations firm Burson-Mastellar is one of the most active among them.

Smelter Struggle: Trinidad Fishing Community Fights Aluminum Projectby Sujatha Fernandes, Special to CorpWatchSeptember 6th, 2006Fishing communities in the Caribbean island of Trinidad are protesting a $US1.5 billion aluminum smelter that will process raw material from Brazil, Jamaica and Surinam. Cedros Peninsula United, a local organization, says that the factory uses technology that has had serious environmental impacts in countries from China to Iceland and the U.S.

Big, Easy MoneyAugust 17th, 2006Disaster profiteers make millions while local companies and laborers in New Orleans and the rest of the Katrina-devastated Gulf Coast region are systematically getting the short end of the stick, according to a major new report from the nonprofit CorpWatch.
Click here for the press release, to see key findings, get quick facts, read the text version or to download the report.Listen to audio of the August 18th press conference, with Rita J. King, Pratap Chatterjee and Brooke Biggs.

Intelligence in Iraq: L-3 Supplies Spy Supportby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchAugust 9th, 2006L-3 Communications, a little-known but gigantic military contractor, provides 300 contract intelligence experts to the Pentagon in Iraq to support operations ranging from interrogation to media analysis. The secretive $426.5 million operation, which is run out of Virginia, may be a recipe for disaster, say critics.
Also see related story, A Translator's Tale, by Pratap Chatterjee.

A Translator's Taleby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchAugust 9th, 2006Goran Habbeb was shot and left for dead by gunmen in Iraq for helping troops in counter-intelligence tasks. He worked for Titan, a military contractor, who supply translators to the military under a profitable multi-billion dollar contract. Almost 200 of their workers have been killed, the highest by far of any contractor in Iraq.

Pinochet's Dutch Secretby Anton Foek, Special to CorpWatchJuly 24th, 2006A major Dutch arms manufacturer's bankruptcy revealed a secret deal to supply weapons to General Augusto Pinochet of Chile. The man behind the scheme is now a tax exile who appears to be immune from charges of bribery or tax evasion.

Iraq After Halliburtonby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchJuly 12th, 2006The controversial multibillion-dollar deal with oil services giant Halliburton to provide logistical support to U.S. troops in Iraq has been canceled. What should happen next? Read our three alternative annual reports on Halliburton, to learn the real legacy of the company's incompetence and corruption.Listen to an interview with CorpWatch's director, Pratap Chatterjee.

Border for Saleby Joseph Richey, Special to CorpWatchJuly 5th, 2006Five major military contractors are competing to design a system to tackle up to two million undocumented immigrants a year in the United States. Boeing, Ericsson, Lockheed, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are working on proposals that focus on high technology rather than high fences, but ignoring some of the fundamental problems of immigration.
Listen to an interview with author, Joseph Richey.

A Proxy Battle: Shareholders vs. CEOsby Kevin Kelleher, Special to CorpWatchJune 13th, 2006Earnest shareholder resolutions presented at company annual general meetings on everything from human rights to executive compensation are routinely shot down in flames. But shareholder resolutions may have an effect, even in defeat.

Green Fuel's Dirty Secretby Sasha Lilley, Special to CorpWatchJune 1st, 2006Ethanol made from corn has been touted as the "green fuel" of the future. Archer Daniels Midland, the largest U.S. producer of ethanol, stands to make a fortune from environmentally conscious car drivers. But is ethanol really as environmentally clean as it is hyped to be?
Listen to an interview with Sasha Lilley on CorpWatch Radio.

Stolen for Steel: Tata Takes Tribal Lands in Indiaby Nityanand Jayaraman, Special to CorpWatchMay 24th, 2006The Tata Group, one of India's biggest and oldest multinationals, has taken over tribal land to build an enormous steel plant in Orissa. A clash between the traditional owners of the land and the police has resulted in numerous injuries and deaths, calling into the question the prestigious family-owned company's philanthropic image.

Entergy Holds New Orleans for Ransomby Rita J. King, Special to Corp WatchMay 10th, 2006Entergy, one of the largest utilities in the U.S., has enjoyed healthy profits since Hurricane Katrina. Yet its New Orleans subsidiary has filed for bankruptcy, and frightened ratepayers with visions of bills bloated to 140% of their pre-storm size. Now the Fortune 500 company is threatening to pull the plug on New Orleans if it doesn't get a $700 million-plus federal bailout it doesn't actually need.